One of the biggest worries in Leafs Nation was that Colby Armstrong getting the heave-ho wasn't a sign that Burke was actually ready to turn to youth in the bottom six. Brandon Prust's name swirled in our fevered dreams as Colby Armstrong 2.0. All the signs were there: Prust played a marginal role on a good team, Prust was some nebulous idea of "tough", Prust was available.
Luckily for us Brian Burke stayed out of the market yesterday. Despite bigots calling him a purse carrier or using the day to get in homophobic shots the simple fact is that Alex Semin, Ryan Suter, Zach Parise and Matt Carle didn't even sign yesterday.
Montreal got "tougher" somehow by signing the oft injured Armstrong and previously mentioned Brandon Prust. Buffalo got "tougher" by signing John Scott: a six foot eight enforcer who can't skate or play anything resembling hockey. Ottawa shipped out Nick Foligno for Marc Methot and replaced him with Guillaume Latendresse.
Seems like 29 other GMs should have taken the chance to enjoy some sunshine and support a great cause.
FTB Question: As the proud owner of James van Riemsdyk's hockey-reference.com page I couldn't think of anything funny to put there. Got an idea? Post it in the comments. Funniest comment will be immortalized on a webpage that may expire in 12 months.
Links will go here eventually. Blame birky.
Leafs Links
Leafs/Marlies Extend Hamilton, Rynnas
Jeffler with some AHL signings.
Some Day 1 UFA Leafs and NHL Reflections
Mike at VLM reviews the moves of yesterday.
Other Links
The Irrational End of the Rink
Ellen Etchingham explains why teams draft bottom 6 players.
Joey Crabb Signs with Washington
1-year, 1-way, $950k.
That's right, Poni joined Antro in Winnipeg.